American Tradition Institute (ATI)

Background

The American Tradition Institute was launched in Colorado in February 2009 as the nonprofit Western Tradition Institute, later changing its name to ATI. WTI, in turn, was a spinoff of the Western Tradition Partnership (WTP) [3]— a 501(c)(4) political advocacy group backed by energy interests.

According to their website[4], the American Tradition Institute is a “public policy research and educational foundation – a 'think tank' – founded in 2009 to help lead the national discussion about environmental issues, including air and water quality and regulation, responsible land use, natural resource management, energy development, property rights, and free-market principles of stewardship.”

Funding

During the 2010 elections, the Montana Commission of Political Practices found that ATI organization broke state campaign laws by failing to register as a political committee or report its donors and spending.

The state suggested WTP/ATP was involved in corruption and money laundering. They found that it solicited unlimited contributions to support candidates and then passed them through a “sham organization,” the Bozeman-based political action committee The Coalition for Energy and the Environment that ran attack ads against Democrats. WTP told corporations that it aimed to combat 'radical environmentalists' and 'beat them at their own game' and that their contributions would remain secret.” [1]

Related Organizations

The American Tradition Partnership, first registered as the Western Tradition Partnership, is the group that created the Western Tradition Institute. The Western Tradition Institute has since become the American Tradition Institute. [7]